NOTE: We don’t believe the information in this article is accurate. We based the article upon the company’s press release (click here), which made it sound like you could qualify with SNAP or TANF and without a child in school. But what they were apparently trying to say was that SNAP and TANF could be simply used to prove that your child is in the school lunch program (since they two programs provide eligibility for a student to receive school lunch).

Here’s great news for financially-struggling Americans: Cox Communications is going all out to promote broadband adoption for America’s needy.

The cable television giant is expanding eligibility rules to include far more families, pledging to spend $15 million to promote broadband adoption, and extending their commitment to participate in the Connect2Compete broadband adoption coalition for another 24 months.

Eligibility expanded

Until now, the Connect2Compete program offered $9.95 per month high-speed broadband to low-income families with students who participate in school lunch programs. Now Cox is making millions more families eligible by including those who participate in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

TANF stands for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The TANF program helps families with children when the parents or guardians are unable to provide for the family’s basic needs.

SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities. The Department of Agriculture says, “SNAP is the largest program in the domestic hunger safety net. The Food and Nutrition Service works with State agencies, nutrition educators, and neighborhood and faith-based organizations to ensure that those eligible for nutrition assistance can make informed decisions about applying for the program and can access benefits.

The Cox Commitment

The Cox commitment to Connect2Compete starts right at the top with President Pat Esser.

“Connecting youth to technology is a core value of Cox Communications, and has guided our community investment initiative for decades. But in today’s digital economy, the Internet is a critical educational resource for America’s youth and their families,” Esser said at the National Press Club. “Together with Connect2Compete, we are making great progress in bringing Internet service to more low-income families in the communities we serve.”

MultiChannel.com reports that, “He said that Cox was focused on access to all customers, and building out gigabit service to schools. But kids can’t take high-speed broadband home in their backpacks, he said and he felt Cox had both the power and responsibility to expand beyond the walls for the school. He praised Connect2Compete partners the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, with which Cox has teamed on 70 tech centers, the Urban League and others. He also halied the participation of the FCC and National Cable & Telecommunications Association in the adoption effort.”

Cox has thrown its corporate weight behind Connect2Compete since the program’s infancy. It initiated the first Connect2Compete piloting program in San Diego, California back in 2012, and then offered the program across its entire 18-state service footprint in April 2013. More than 15,000 financially-struggling families are now enrolled in Connect2Compete through the Cox program. The company has also done its best to promote the program by airing approximately 200,000 public service announcements on its various cable television systems.

Rave reviews

Other nonprofit leaders were quick to commend Cox Communications for its new commitment.

“Cox’s program has demonstrated the powerful impact a company can have in its local communities,” said Zach Leverenz, Chief Executive Officer of EveryOneOn, a major nonprofit behind the effort to bridge the digital divide. “The company’s commitment to closing the digital divide and willingness to expand the low-income eligibility programs to encourage more households to take advantage of its offers serves as a model to the industry.”

It seems that no one is surprised to see Cox take this leadership position. As MultiChannel.com notes, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski lauded Esser for his efforts to close the digital divide all the way back in 2012. “[He has] long been a leader on promoting digital opportunity,” the chairman said at the kickoff event in San Diego in May 2012. “Without Pat’s early initiative, Connect2Compete simply wouldn’t have been possible.”

More on Connect2Compete

Connect2Compete (C2C) is a national not-for-profit program, aimed at bringing low-income students and families online by offering $9.95 per month high-speed internet, low-cost computers and free digital literacy training.

Cox is just one of the major cable television companies that participates in the program. Others include Cox, Bright House Networks, MediaCom, Suddenlink, and Comcast’s hugely successful Internet Essentials. For more information on all the plans available for low-income Americans, visit CheapInternet.com.

there is a COX customer of over thirty years but is now on social security, medicare, snap and needs to reduce the cost of COX bill that is over $175/mo he has not had a contract in years Cox program #1 – for families participating in SNAP, TANF and the National School Lunch Program 9.95 he has phone, tv and internet

Unfortunately, you cannot move directly from a full-price Cox account to a low-income Cox plan. You must go without Cox service for 90 days before you become eligible. Your alternative is to switch to one of the other low-income plans for those 90 days or to stay with them permanently. Here’s where you can find more info on all those plans:

I can’t see how Cox has gone out of it’s way to offer low cost internet to those of us who can least afford it, while penalizing those of us who don’t have household kids on free lunch programs. This makes no sense to me. I’m tired of kids ALWAYS coming first, and only qualifying while everyone else suffers at the hands of big corporate cable/internet companies. They aren’t doing the ‘community’ any favors at all, and I’m fed up hearing about how great COX is extending themselves to the ‘community.’ All they are doing is lining their pockets, upping our rates all the time to cover these free/low cost programs, paying for those who keep having kids and expect everyone else to support that lifestyle; at the same time Cox is aiming to better their image. They have not in my eyes. I’ve seen how they operate. They are not favoring the residents they serve; merely themselves. I don’t buy into how wonderful COX is/has been.

We my wife and I don’t have any kids but are low income and need internet. We are both in power chairs. We can not afford to pay high internet provider for it. We are on hud home buyers program for low income families. We don’t get out of the house very much to go anywhere else. My wife is home bound because we can’t afford a van with a ramp in it so she can go out with me. Please help all low income families like us to.

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